Attempted Run
by NintendoGal55
Summary: Sick of her life at home, Helga attempts to run away, but is stopped by her one saving grace...in a very unexpected manner.


**This little piece is based on the ending parts of one of my favourite childhood book series of Ramona Quimby, the book **_**Ramona and her Mother**_**. In the end of it, Ramona got upset and threatened to her family that she was going to run away. And no one even batted an eye. So she goes to her room to pack, and Mrs. Quimby comes in to help her do so, and packs the suitcase way too heavy, on purpose, so that Ramona wouldn't leave. Why? Because they were getting nowhere arguing with her.**

**So, here we go. :D A little rendition of it right here. There's just a slight change. ;)**

**And hilariously, Ramona's middle name is also Geraldine! XD Haha! I think these two would make good friends. X3**

**This is post-TJM, by the way.**

**I do not own the characters!**

**Hey Arnold belongs to Craig Bartlett**

**Ramona belongs to Beverly Cleary.**

**XXXXXX**

"Hey, hey, hey! Olga, don't take that tone with me! Now dust off Olga's trophies!"

"It's HELGA, Bob! And Olga, the REAL Olga, is in the kitchen already!"

"Quit your gripping, Olga deserves better than this!"

"Olga deserves EVERYTHING, doesn't she? Why don't you make her the Princess of England or something? Or heck, a freaking Goddess?"

"Baby sister!" Olga came into the room then. "Please don't yell! My chocolate souffle is in the oven! I want to make it for my little sis when she comes to visit later!"

"Oh sure, yeah, go have fun with _Lila_! See if I care! Heck, she may as well be your sister instead of me! I know you think it Olga, just admit it!"

"Why Helga!" Olga was shocked. "We have been over this before, Lila is my-"

"Don't even try. I know you'd want Lila as your real little sister than me. Just admit! Lila is everything to you that I'm not! Well forget it, I will NEVER be Lila! Never have been, never will be!"

"Don't you take that tone with Olga!" Bob yelled.

"Hey, you said yourself that she needs a backbone."

"Daddy!"

"Everyone...come on..." Miriam intervened. "B, Olga, we should all just go out somewhere later and take our mind off things."

"And you're staying in your room young lady, so you can think about how what you did!"

"Won't have to! Because you know what? I'm SICK of this family!" Helga stormed toward the stairs. "I'm running away! I'm running away and never coming back! Ever!"

Bob, Miriam and Olga just stood there, staring at her, as if what she'd said was an every day thing. Olga looked up at their parents in question, and then back at Helga, biting her lip.

"...I mean it! I'm leaving! I'm running away from this fiery underworld hole of a house and I'm never coming back! Never again! I'm gone!" She yelled again, hoping to get some kind of reaction.

"Fine, whatever. Just be quick about it." Bob muttered.

"Pack warm clothes, honey." Miriam said before she retreated to the kitchen.

"Be careful, baby sister." Olga said, and also went to the kitchen.

Helga was stunned. They didn't even care about her leaving, did they? If they really did, they would have stopped her. But none of that occurred. All this neglect and disregard really truly was showing that they clearly never wanted her. Their family was tickled pink before she was born, weren't they? No wonder, they had a great life, with a stellar, legendary award-winning daughter, and a thriving business. Then little-miss-oops-accident-baby came along, which was her. It stung her heart as she was reminded once again that she truly was the unwanted reject of the family. They didn't care about her. Not at all. Olga may not have neglected her, but she still continuously pretended nothing problematic was going on the household, so of course she pulled a Lila. Pretended nothing was going on.

As Arnold liked to say, quoting from a life law: _You can't change what you don't acknowledge._

So that was it. All she needed to know she was not wanted.

"...I'm going to pack!" Helga informed her father.

"Yeah yeah, just keep it down, I'm trying to watch my new commercial." Bob waved her off, now sitting in his easy chair, watching TV.

Growling under her breath, then grabbing her coat, Helga marched upstairs to her room, and shut the door. What could she bring with her? Some clothes, probably. What about her shrine? She couldn't leave THAT behind for them to find. Her poems were definitely to be brought along. Or maybe she'd give them to her beloved, to have something to remember her by.

Arnold...

Her eyes fell to a photo of the two of them on her bedside table. Instantly she melted and smiled, going to sit on her bed and taking the framed photo to admire it. They'd been dating since October, it was March now. Seven months together, and still going very strong in their courtship. The photo depicted the two of them standing in front of a lake in the country back when Miles and Phil had taken the two of them to go fishing, and Phil had insisted that Miles get a photo of them with his camera, and so he did. The lake and all the trees in the background, and they stood there in a partial embrace. It warmed her heart so much to see Arnold's overjoyed and loving expression as he looked at her in the photo there, knowing he felt that way with her. She in return was smiling down at him (he was still shorter) with all the love and affection she could muster, with lit up eyes to clearly depict just how good it felt to show him how she really felt instead of hiding it.

"Arnold my love..." She murmured, kissing his side of the photo.

Would he miss her if she left? Most likely he would. She knew better now than to doubt he loved her, because he did, and proved it just so every day they were together, especially now that they were indeed quite serious. Seven months was a long time to be with someone, especially at their age.

If she went to stay there, they would let her stick around awhile, and then convince her to go back home to her family, since they'd miss her. Yeah right.

Phoebe's? No, that wouldn't work, either.

The rest of the gang, come on. They may have all been better friends by this point, but that wasn't going to work either.

_Oh well, I'll figure it out when I'm on the road._ Helga thought, placing the photo aside to take with her. _I'll come back to my beloved one day, and we'll run away together..._

She took a small bag, and put the photo inside, along with her locket, her wallet, some other paraphernalia, and placed them in the box with her poems, along with a box of mementos she'd shared with her beloved over the past few months, photos, and some other things.

Then there was a knock on her bedroom door. Helga jumped lightly, having not expected it. Hope came to her, wondering if maybe, finally, her family would be there, begging her not to leave, getting down on their knees and crying... Okay, that was too much to ask, but she still hoped they'd come to their senses. She went over to the door, keeping as neutral and angered as possible, and opened it.

"Nothing you say is going to make me-Arnold?"

Standing in the hallway, with a suitcase in one hand and three bananas in the other hand, was Arnold, looking as pleasant and sweet as can be. What was he doing?

"Hey Helga, I heard about what was happening, and they asked me to come help you pack. So, can I come in?"

Her heart sank into her stomach as she wordlessly stepped aside. This hurt ten times worse than her family willing to let her run away. Now her beloved didn't seem to care? What was the world coming to?

She followed him wordlessly to her bed, where he put the suitcase down on, making sure it was open, and placed the bananas inside.

"In case you get hungry." He explained, and took her doll. "You'll want to bring your doll, right?"

Helga just stood, limp as a noodle, watching him help her to pack the suitcase. She didn't even have the strength to say anything, let alone do anything.

"You'll have to bring a lot of clothes along, and your sweaters, so you don't get cold." Arnold packed a few piles of clothes into the suitcase. "And a few notebooks, so you can write some poetry and notes about your travels. Here's your Game Boy, so you don't get bored." He placed these items into her bag, along with her pencil case. Taking a few of her books from her desk, he placed them in the suitcase too. "So you'll have something to read."

_I can't believe this is happening...why is he doing this? Does he WANT me to leave? ...Or does he know nothing will stop me once I make up my mind and is letting me go without a fight? ...Oh Arnold, why must you make this so much harder? _Helga thought, feeling defeated, and about to cry, but she didn't dare move a muscle.

As if oblivious to how she was feeling, Arnold packed her an extra pair of shoes, nervously wrapped her bathing suit and other swimming paraphernalia around her underwear, blushing all the while. She didn't mind so much if he touched her underpants-_Jeez that didn't sound right!-_, but he was obviously just being a gentleman. He must've picked up some tricks of how to handle women's under garments from doing laundry at home.

Then he packed in her little memento box, wallet, and other objects before closing the suitcase and securing the latches in place. "There you go, Helga. You're all packed." He then sat on her bed, watching her.

Trying not to cry, and looking down at the floor, Helga slowly put her coat back on, before she allowed herself to gaze her beloved. To savour the last time she would ever see him for who-knows-how-long. That soft but crazy cornflower hair she loved to run her fingers through. His football-shaped head she loved to eye, that rounded nose she loved to pinch or kiss or rub her own against. Those sweet, perfect lips she was completely addicted to and adored kissing, always moist, soft and warm. And those eyes, those gorgeous green eyes of his she forever found herself lost in. Even now, she could never stop loving him, and up until now, she didn't doubt his love for her. But what now? Why was he doing this?

He just sat there, watching her, as neutral and calm as can be, as if running away and probably never coming back or seeing her again was a natural thing to do.

Helga exhaled, deciding to just get this over with. It was no use prolonging the pain, or the inevitable. Softly she mouthed "I love you, Arnold" before she went to her bed, grabbing hold of the suitcase, trying hard to lift it off the bed. But it wouldn't lift. She had to drag it across the mattress, and let it drop to the floor with a loud thump.

She tried lifting it again, but it took all of her strength to even just get it off the floor. This time she gripped the handle with both hands and lifted again, again it wouldn't lift more than an inch before she had to let go again. She tried again by gasping either side of the suitcase, having to crouch down low and try to grab it. No success there either.

Hope ran through her, and she quickly looked at Arnold. Had he...? Studying him, she saw that yes, there was a smile on his face, and a twinkle in his eye. He had made the suitcase too heavy for her to carry on purpose!

"You...you tricked me!" Helga exclaimed in shock and realization. "You made this stupid thing too heavy on purpose! You don't want me to leave!"

"Of course I don't want you to leave. I wouldn't get along very well without you, Helga." Arnold smiled more, opening his arms for her.

Immediately she ran into them, throwing her own arms around him. Warmth, adoration, love and peace coursed through her then, it had all been a trick. He didn't want her to leave. That was why he made her suitcase too heavy to carry. He truly loved her, he didn't want her to go.

"Why did you do that?" She wanted to know, unable to keep from swooning as his hand played with her hair.

"I was actually walking by, and wanted to come see you, and Olga told me what was going on, and asked me if I could help you. They weren't getting anywhere arguing with you."

Helga blinked, surprised at this. Her family _did_ care. While they didn't exactly know that she and Arnold were in a _romantic_ relationship, they must've known he was close to her somehow, especially Olga. No wonder they'd asked him for a hand with this. And well, Arnold being Arnold, would have done it anyway. But he didn't just do it to help, did he?

"And well," Arnold went on. "When they said you were running away, I have to admit I was pretty scared you'd actually go through with it, that something would happen to you, or worse..." His voice trailed off. "Anyway, I was afraid I'd never see you again. Your family was a bit worried you were making an impulsive decision that might come back to haunt you. And well, you know I didn't want you to go Helga, because..."

Her anger melted away, as it had some time ago and she let go of him, sitting next to him on her bed now, a light, playful smirk on her face as she waited for him to finish.

"Go on, hair boy, you made it this far."

The young boy blushed considerably and rubbed the back of his neck before looking her in the eye. "I don't want you to go, because I love you."

Again, no stranger to hearing those three beautiful words come from his mouth in that sweet, musical voice of his, it still made her heart swell and her insides turn to putty. She brought her arms around him and hugged him sideways, nuzzling into his head, his hair brushing her cheek.

"I love you too, Arnold. And you know, thanks for that."

"You're welcome, Helga. Oh, and um...the reason I came over was also because I wanted to know if maybe you wanted to go to a movie with me tonight. I know I should've called ahead of time, but I was taking a walk and I passed by your house and it just kind of came to me on the spot because I wanted to-"

"Doi, of _course_ I can fit you into my busy schedule." Helga winked at him.

Arnold grinned widely, getting off her bed and reaching out to take her hand. "Well, great! Let's go. I'll buy."

"Sounds good to me." Helga looked down at the suitcase still on the floor, and kicked it lightly. "I'll unpack that later."

"I'll help you, if you want." Arnold offered.

"You know, Football Head, that sounds like a good idea. And um, you know, this whole thing...never happened."

"Duly noted. ...I mean, uh, forgetting!"

They both laughed and headed out of her room to go downstairs, where the Patakis were waiting, Olga looking anxious while Bob looked uncertain, and Miriam worried as well.

"Okay, okay, relax, I'm not going anywhere." Helga said, upon reaching the bottom of the stairs.

"Oh, that's wonderful, baby sister!" Olga cried happily, hugging her. "We're so happy to hear that!"

"And, you know, thanks for that, Alfred..." Bob said uncertainly.

"It's _Arnold_, Dad." Helga chided.

"Right, yeah, whatever."

"You're welcome, Mr. Pataki." Arnold smiled.

"Now that that's out of the way, we're going out for a while, be back by five." Helga said quickly, opening the front door.

"Just a minute Helga." Miriam said, stopping her. "We're all going out to dinner tonight, and you can bring Arnold along if you want."

"Oh yes, it will be just lovely for all of us to dine with my baby sister's little boyfriend too!" Olga cooed.

"Hey hey hey, don't start with dating nonsense!" Bob warned. "She's too young to date."

_Too late for that one, Bob._ Helga thought, smirking smugly behind their backs as she squeezed Arnold's hand. "Never mind Dad, we'll be back later."

"Bye bye now!" Olga called cheerfully as the two kids trouped out the door.

Bob and Miriam exchanged glances then, winking at each other.

"Think we should tell 'em over dinner?"

"I think that's a great idea, B."


End file.
